RedState: ‘The Fiscal Cliff And The Keyser Soze Option’

Movies often serve as a useful shorthand for how to address some of life’s issues. In the movie Usual Suspects, Keyser Soze is confronted with the fact that his wife and children would be an impediment in dealing with his business competitors. In a way the House GOP finds itself in the same position as Keyser Soze. Our home has been invaded. Our family despoiled. And we are facing a never ending series of ever increasing demands from the criminals who have abused us.

Sometimes the only way out of a dilemma is by clearing the table and starting again from scratch. At midnight on December 21, 2012 the United States will be faced with what is being called the ‘fiscal cliff.’ In short this cliff is composed of several parts.

1. The payroll tax reduction passed in 2010 will end.
2. The temporary tax rates passed under President Bush will lapse.
3. Obamacare’s taxes will come due.
4. The Alternative Minimum Tax will expand to many more taxpayers.
5. Extended unemployment benefits will expire.
6. Some $78 billion in federal spending will be sequestered.
7. Medicare ‘doc fix’ will expire.

There are several sets of sacred cattle here. The GOP is primarily interested in protecting the tax cuts and Defense spending. The Democrats are primarily interested in preserving the social spending and free stuff for their base (my emphasis). This time around the Democrats, in their never ending paean to class warfare, are insisting that the Bush Tax Rates for the wealthiest Americans be allowed to expire. The GOP should not negotiate on this. This will put the GOP in the position of only getting part of what it wants in exchange for giving the Democrats everything they want, in other words this is a textbook case of bipartisanship in Washington.

The GOP should take the position that the danger to our country comes from profligate spending and while reduced taxes are the correct policy we are not in the position to make that trade off. If necessary, the GOP should stand ready to walk away from negotiations and let events take their course. They should metaphorically shoot their wife and kids.

The "free stuff" meme needs to die already. You know who's getting free stuff? Republican politicians who sit in their offices and do nothing but obstruct progress and the workings of government, like petulant children who aren't getting their way.

Ending welfare programs for people struggling to make ends meet will cause less harm to the economy and the nation in general than putting the wealthy back on Clinton-era tax rates. After all, a budget deficit is poisonous to the economy, but a budget surplus would murder this nation outright.

For the greater good, the 47% should suffer and slowly die for the sake of helping the 1% create more sweatshop jobs in China. F*** Galt! We should be going Soze. Whats the difference? Keyser wasn't some godless atheist infidel, that's what.